Arsenal
BBC: Player in London for Arsenal medical, photoshoot underway, will sign 5-year deal
Nicolas Pepe is in London to undergo his medical with Arsenal today and will sign a five-year contract ahead of a £72m move from Lille
We’re now at the business end of the summer transfer window and managers are working hard trying to strengthen their squads so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip from around the globe. Here, Nicolas Pepe is set to undergo his medical today…
Nicolas Pepe is in London to undergo his medical with Arsenal today and will sign a five-year contract ahead of a £72m move from Lille, according to the BBC.
Unai Emery has been working on bringing in a new winger this summer as we lack genuine width in the squad and the boss turned his attention to signing Pepe after struggling to agree a fee with Crystal Palace for Wilfried Zaha.
Things moved quickly as various media outlets reported on Saturday that Arsenal had agreed a fee with Lille and the 24-year-old had snubbed interest from Napoli in favour of making a move to the Emirates Stadium.
The French Press Association then reported on Sunday that the Ivory Coast international was set to sign a contract worth around €8m-per season and they expected an announcement to be made on Tuesday.
It appears those reports were accurate as respected BBC journalist David Ornstein claims Pepe has now landed in London and will undergo his medical this afternoon before signing a five-year contract.
Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano – who works for Sky Sports and the Guardian – also says the attacker is in London with his agents to finalise his move and is already having his photoshoot ahead of the official announcement.
Nicolas Pépé is in London with his agents. He’s having first pictures as new Arsenal player – the deal will be official soon. It’s time to sign his contract… here we go again! ✍??⚪️ #AFC #Arsenal #transfers
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 30, 2019
Unless there are any last minute complications during the medical, the BBC say Pepe will be unveiled as an Arsenal player over the coming days and will seal a club record £72m move.
The 24-year-old will be a hugely exciting addition to the squad as Pepe contributed 23 goals and 12 assists for Lille last season to join Lionel Messi as being the only two players to provide at least 20 goals and 10 assists in Europe’s top five leagues.
The Ivorian attacker is primarily a right-winger but he’s also comfortable playing on the opposite flank or through the middle as a striker so he’ll give Emery plenty of options in the final third.
Pepe is now set to become Arsenal’s fourth major signing of the summer following the arrivals of Gabriel Martinelli, William Saliba and Dani Ceballos but the BBC claims Emery is still hoping to sign Kieran Tierney and another centre-back before the end of the window.
READ –> Arsenal transfer news
It’s going to be a hectic few days at the Emirates but after a slow start to the summer, it looks like we’re on course to having one of our best transfer windows in recent memory so let’s hope for more positivity around the club this season.
